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JOHN A. DANN, 0F NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T() HIMSELF ANDWILLIAM F. DANN, CF" THE SAME PLACE.

Letters Patent No. 63,997, dated April 23, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN WOOD-BENDING MACHINES.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JOHN A. DANN, of New Haven, in the county of NewHaven, and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inMachine for Bending Wood; and I do hereby declare the following, whentaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the letters ofreference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, and which said drawingsl constitute part of thisspecification, and represent, in-

Figure l, a top view.

Figure 2, a side view.

Figure 3, a top View; and in Figure 1 a detached view, enlarged toillustrate the operation of the machine.

This invention relates to an improvement int machines for bending woodfor various purposes, and consists in a mechanism combinedV with theformer, lwhereby the wood to be bent is drawn down on to andautomatically secured to the former; also in the manner of vadjustingthe covering-strap by which the wood is protected and bent. l

, To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use myimprovement, I will proceed to describe the same as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. For convenience of illustration I show myinvention as adapted to the bending of arms for folding chairs, such aswere patented January 6, 1863.

A is the bed-plate, supported upon legs B'. C and D are two circularplates fixed each to a shaft, E F, and

so as to lie flush, or nearly so, with the surface ofthe plate A, andare arranged to be rotated by gears G Gr, by

Vintermediate' gears H, from a crank, I, or otherwise. L is the porlncr,its ends of the form into which the wood is to be bent. The said formeris adjnstedto the proper position at or near its centre by a stud uponthe plate projecting up into an opening, M, in one side of the saidformer.V N N are two supports, arranged -so that the former bearsagainst each of them, as seen in iig. 3. P are metallic protectingstraps, which lie upon the outer surface of the wood to be bent, and fitclosely thereto to prevent the cracking or starting of the grain of theWood during the process of bendingf To the outer end of cach strap isfixed a metallic shoulder or hook, R, which rests firmly against the endof the wood, so as to hold the strap P firmly upon the surface of thewood. To adjust the straps to variations in the length of the wood,their linner end is fixed to a lever, S, (see fig. 3,) which said leveris pivoted to an eccentric, a, so that by'the turning of the saideccentric the strap may be extended or drawn in, as occasion mayrequire, and the said ievcrs serve as cams to bear the strap tightlydown upon the wood.` To each plate, C and D, is fixed a crank-pin, c andd, to which a hook7 T, is fixed, and from each of the said hooks alink,f, passes over the shoulders R, as more clearly seen in fig. 4.When the Wood to be bent is 'placed in the former, and the former in themachine, as seen in fig. 3, the links f connected to the hooks T, andthe plates D caused to revolve, the ends yof the wood are drawn down onto the former, as seen in fig. l, and when completely bent the links aredrawn over the end of the former to secure thcwood thereto, as seen infig. 1, and when so secured and released from the hooks, the former isremoved, another formerintro duced, and the 'wood bent thereon in likemanner. v Preparatory to bending, the wood should be steamed, and, afterbeing bent, thoroughly dried before'it is removed from the former.

I have thus described my invention as for the purpose of bending chairarms and both thc ends at the same operation, but, as before st'ated, Ihave done this only for the convenience of illustration. It willbereadily seen that the same mechanismmay be adapted to the bending ofwood generally, and for such purposes those skilled in the art will,from the above description, be enabled to adapt my invention; therefore,having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new anduseful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The arrangement of one or more cranks, D, in combination with theirrespective hooks T .and links f,

operating in connection with a former, L, so as to-force the wood downupon the former, substantially in the' manner herein set forth. y

2. A mechanism, substantially as described, which, operating incombination with a former, forces the wood down upon and automaticallysecures it to the said former, substantially in the manner herein setforth.

3. I claim the adjustable cams or levers S, operating substantially inthe manner and for the'purposc set forth.

JOHN DANN.

Witnesses:

JOHN E. EARLE, A, J. Tunnrs.4

